Do you have under 400hps and want more?

[LuckyWinner]

Just trying to find out if anyone out there is happy with under 400hps or if you had it to do over would you want more?

[Wayne Presley]

I started with 400 HP and wanted more, next few cars were 500-525 and is just about perfect. 830 is too much...

[Racer 28]

I would say about 450-500 at the flywheel is about right, but we have a car with 320 hp and still is a blast to drive.

[Bullet306]

We have the FRPP 345hp crate motor in our MKII and find it to be a very well balanced combination of power, drivability, and fuel economy. That being said we are looking to add a centrifugal supercharger in the near future.

[Bob Cowan]

My first car had a mild 302 in it. According to desktop dyno it should have made about 325-350hp, IIRC. It didn't take long at all before I wanted more power. A lot more.

The next car had a bigger engine, and made about 425-450hp. That was good for a while. It didn't take long before that wasn't enough. Now I'm making over 600, and would like to have more. If I wasn't racing, I'd probably be happy in the 500-550 range. Maybe. :)

[skullandbones]

First, I think Wayne and Bob probably have more experience than the average FFR roadster driver. Don't know either guy but it sounds like they race theirs. I think the human factor is more critical than the HP level. So if you can practice the scenarios that you will find yourself in with a 500 hp, 2100 lb roadster, you will more than likely like it and be able to handle it. I have had a 500+ hp roadster but it had a corvette wheel base and weighed more like 3000 lbs. I think this Mk III is going to be very different with just 375 hp. I think I am on the bubble, so to speak, so that it might be great without any changes for driving on the street. However, I can see that road racing and drag racing will show the weakness in the lack of power pretty quickly depending on your goals. Racing is the big equalizer, IMHO. WEK.

[cmsu]

We have the FRPP 345hp crate motor in our MKII and find it to be a very well balanced combination of power, drivability, and fuel economy. That being said we are looking to add a centrifugal supercharger in the near future.

don't want to thread jack but I have the 340hp crate and will be going with a supercharger maybe you couldpm me with what you end up doing// Maybe a group buy?? I'd really like 500hp ................

[3kcarbon]

800 is the new 400. Too much is barely enough.
I guess I'm the wrong guy to ask. I'm perfectly happy with my 340 hp. Its enough to get me either in trouble or hurt maybe both and I still have money in the bank to pay bail or deductible.

[Greg_M]

I've got 340HP and that's just right for the way I use the car. MPG is at least 23 driven normally. That said, it could use more power for passing other cars above 80 mph or to break the tires loose at will in 3rd.

Greg

[gtcobra]

Unless you are racing, I have no idea why you would need more than 350hp. I have about 330hp. and I can break the tires loose pretty much anytime I want.
I get 22 mpg, and can pin you in the seat so far back you can't reach your drink..... JMHO.....

[riptide motorsport]

Its relative and will change.

[3kcarbon]

Its relative and will change.
And you can change your relatives!

For steet use and a average driver thats been putting around in a grocery getter for years less can be enough. I really know what you are saying and its true. However I can scare myself on a 18 hp lawnmower so you know my need for speed may be a bit more realistic as too my ability to use it and place to let it rip. With time to drive and a place to do so it of course perceptions will change.

Its a fact I could have easily spent another 5K and still may not have been only slightly faster. I don't use all I have so would another 5K been a good investment? Everybody has to decide that for himself and vote with the checkbook. What I want and what I neeed aren't always the same.

[Morgan]

To answer the subject line, I am sure I'm well south of 400hp and I don't have the desire for more... Yet...

I only have a few hundred miles on my car, and so far I am pleased with how fast it is. After a few thousand miles that might change, but I don't race, autox or show off much. I honestly don't really want the 315s to break loose in 3rd.

Maybe when I get to the 4th quarter of my life I'll want something a little more dangerous. :)

[Bob Cowan]

Do you need 500hp? No of course not.
But do you want 500hp? What are you, stupid? :)

[efnfast]

I have 600 and I want more.

[3kcarbon]

I have 600 and I want more.
We won't keep you from it. Git R Done....
Should make the trip through the drive through at Micky D's a few tenths faster.

[cobradawg]

I say this with all seriousness, at what point of HP do you tell someone how much your roadster makes and they are thinking this guy is an idiot? 800, 1000, 15000???

[efnfast]

I say this with all seriousness, at what point of HP do you tell someone how much your roadster makes and they are thinking this guy is an idiot? 800, 1000, 15000???

Given the more power you make the larger your e-penis grows, I'd have to say there's no answer to said question.

[Bob Cowan]

Depends on who you're talking to. The actual number isn't what makes you call BS, it's when the number doesn't match the equipment.

If you're looking at a stock block 302/347 with a dual plane manifold and a single Holley carb, and the owner tells you it makes 750hp, you know that's BS. But, if you're looking at a Dart block 445 small block with twin turbos and EFI, that could easily make 750hp on pump gas.

[cobradawg]

Bob; I was'nt asking about lying about HP, I'm curious about when the money and ego trip looses all contact with common sense.

[Sven]

I think a better question would be to ask why someone would want more than 400 HP. If people were really honest I imagine the answers would be more telling of an individuals psychology than the abilities or limits of the vehicle.

[Marty Prario]

I have 280hp to the flywheel, is it enough? no. Is it enough for my driving ability? yes, well it was. I have been doing track days and autocross for a few years now and I could use a little more hp on the big tracks. I beat cars that have a lot more hp in autocross, mine is easier to drive. On the big track equal drivers would get me on the straights, but mine is eaiser to drive through the corners.

I raced Motocross for about 40 years, my last bike was a stock CRF450r. Most people in my class would modify there bikes to put out more power, did it make them faster? NO. It's all about the riding and driving ability. I would beat most of the modified bikes and I could not even use all the power of my stock CRF450r, when I was beat it was not because of the power it was because they were better riders. Does more power help in some area's? Yes, but it can make it more difficult in other area's and it can get you in trouble.

Do the people that have 500, 600 even 700 hp FFR's use all the hp available, I doubt it. Maybe in a straight line. Learn to drive with less and add more later.

[Wayne Presley]

I have that much because I wanted to demonstrate what I can do at VeryCoolParts.com, I already had the motor and adding the turbos was cheaper than swapping out the Eaton S/C for a Kenne Bell. :D

[Wayne Presley]

Do the people that have 500, 600 even 700 hp FFR's use all the hp available, I doubt it. Maybe in a straight line. Learn to drive with less and add more later.

I've driven a Roadster with 465 RWHP, 550 RWHP and 705 RWHP and even with warmed up drag radials, none will take full throttle in first gear at anything over 1800rpm. 550 RWHP and up will spin the rear tires at 55mph in 2nd, so how much do you need?

[skullandbones]

I agree with Marty. Racing levels the playing field most of the time. If you have more than 400 hp it could be one of many other reasons such as, " I did it to see if I could" or something else just as crazy. But a lot of guys want every advantage available to insure they win. Win is the operative word. Even in sail boat racing, I have known guys who would spend five thousand to gain a half a knot of speed and still lose because they got out sailed. IMHO. WEK.

[Sailor]

I never thought fractions of a knot of boat speed in a sailboat would ever come up in conversation on this forum. NICE! LOL

[jakester888]

Newbie here : sticking with the stock Mustang 302, eeking out 225hp. Seemed reasonably fast in the Mustang itself (easy burn outs in 1st gear), should do well in the 2200lb roadster. Thinking about trick-flow and computer mods to bring it up to 300.

[PaulW]

My engine dynoed at 385hp so I guess I qualify as under 400. I took it out for a bit of an extended go cart yesterday (close to 2 miles) and at this point I have to say that I think I am good with what I have. :D

[Bob Cowan]

Ah. Well, (I think) that also depends on who you're talking to. If Gordon Levy tells you he's making 1,000hp, you'de be thinking, "Dang! He must be really fast!" But if my friend, "Spin" (not a made up name), tells you the same thing, you'd be thinking he'll be dead soon.

It's all a matter or context.

[JoeT]

It's way more fun to drive a "slow" car at it's limits than it is to reign in a "fast" car

That said, I'm just under 400hp at the wheels and trying to justify stroking as a winter project

[Howard]

I'm at 450 to the wheels - wouldn't change a thing!

[pjdavis]

I never thought fractions of a knot of boat speed in a sailboat would ever come up in conversation on this forum. NICE! LOL

For 8 years I raced a 30 footer in the Chesapeake bay in a Wednesday night serious - comes mid July - through August - 95 degree heat - winds 2 - 3 knots - fractions were about all we got!